Localized label user interface control

ABSTRACT

Allowing a user-friendly localization of an entry form on an interactive web page includes providing an entry form having a plurality of editable input fields corresponding to a plurality of locale codes and providing at least one visible input field for display, wherein the remainder of the plurality of input fields are hidden until accessed. Data received are mapped to at least one input field selected from the plurality of input fields. As shown, data is transferred asynchronously to and from the plurality of editable input fields, without requiring updating any other information displayed on the web page.

CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS

This application is a continuation of U.S. patent application Ser. No.12/284,070, filed Sep. 18, 2008, entitled “Localized label userinterface control,” which is hereby incorporated by reference herein.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

1. Field of the Invention

Generally, the present invention relates to computing methods andsystems for providing interactive web pages. Particularly, it relates tocomputing methods and systems, and devices incorporating the methods andsystems, for providing user-friendly localization of data displayed inan entry form in an interactive web page environment.

2. Background of the Invention

Many software applications intended to be provided over the Internetinclude browser-based entry forms for the input of various data. Inearlier days, computer users were often researchers and computerexperts, who were often versed in foreign languages. Therefore,providing the data entered into the entry form in the desired languagefor viewing or use by a multinational audience was less problematic.

Currently, however, computer users come from all walks of life, may onlybe familiar with a few software applications for work or for home use,and are often familiar only with their native tongue. Still further, thecurrent world-wide nature of computer infrastructure, i.e., theInternet, requires accessibility of particular computer programs, webpages, and the like in multiple languages according to the user'slocale. While it is certainly possible to provide computer software in amultiplicity of languages in accordance with the locale in which it isintended be used, or to provide specific web-based applications in onlythe language of the locale in which it will be accessed, such a practiceis logistically difficult and prohibitively costly. Still further, thereis the issue of multiple users accessing the same information/entryforms over the Internet, and the need to provide that information in theuser's language of choice. For example, a browser-based entry form maybe desired for display and entry of data from multiple locales, i.e.,different nations using different languages, and yet all to betransferred to one or more centrally-located servers which store thedata in yet another language.

Because users of such applications may be located in several differentlocales, it is desirable to allow the localization of the browser basedentry forms for different locales, that is, to allow multiple users indifferent locales to access the entry forms in their own language.Localization broadly refers to adaptation of user interfaces forsoftware to a local user's culture.

Typically, this means at least translation of the interface into theuser's language, but also may include such diverse aspects as localtime, date, and number formats.

Certainly, it is known to provide means for localization, such aslanguage translation, by translating entire web browser pages into thedesired language, time/date/number format, etc. However, allowinglocalization of a label in a browser based entry form can be unwieldyand unsightly because providing many locales, that is, allowing entry ofdata in many languages/formats, can take up a large amount of space onthe entry form. This is particularly true if having a value for alllocales is not required. For example, numerous input fields arenecessary to allow localization of the labels. Further, translation ofan entire browser page is cumbersome, requiring updating or refreshingthe entirety of the information on the page, rather than perhaps onlythe information which the user desires to view. Even more, in someapplications it may be necessary to access multiple menus or to visitmultiple web pages to access the desired information in the desiredlanguage. In the situation where a web page having the desiredinformation is intended for multi-national use, a particular web pageproviding an application may contain mixed languages. That is, if theuser's preferred locale is different than the application defaultlocale, several languages may appear on the web page.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

The above-mentioned and other problems become solved by applying theprinciples and teachings associated with the hereinafter-describedlocalized label user interface control. At a basic level, the inventionprovides methods, systems, and devices for user-friendly localization ofan entry form for entry and display of data.

In one aspect, a method is provided for allowing a user-friendlylocalization of an entry form on an interactive web page. The methodincludes the steps of providing an entry form having a plurality ofeditable input fields corresponding to a plurality of locale codes,providing at least one visible input field for display, and maintainingthe remainder of the plurality of input fields hidden until accessed.Data is received in at least one of said input fields and mapped to atleast one input field selected from the plurality of input fieldscorresponding to a plurality of locale codes. In a representativeembodiment, data is transferred asynchronously to and from the pluralityof editable input fields, without requiring updating any otherinformation displayed on the web page. Access to any of the plurality ofhidden input fields maybe provided via a localization icon.

It is desirable that the at least one visible input field be configuredto display data according to a user's preferred locale code. In analternative embodiment, data is displayed according to a best matchinglocale code, in the event the preferred locale code is not supported.

In another embodiment, a computing system for user-friendly localizationof an entry form on an interactive web page includes a computing hostcontaining a database and at least one client computing device fordisplaying a portion of the database on a web page as an entry form asset forth above. In an illustrative embodiment, the entry form displaysdata in at least one visible input field selected according to a user'spreferred locale code and hides the remainder of the plurality of inputfields until accessed. Data transferred to and from the plurality ofeditable input fields is transferred asynchronously between thecomputing host and the at least one client computing device, withoutrequiring updating any other information displayed on the web page. Thesystem may select a best matching locale code for display of data in thevisible input field when the user's preferred locale code is notavailable.

In yet another embodiment, a computer program product available as adownload or on a computer-readable medium for installation with acomputing device of a user to view information on an interactive webpage is provided, including a first component configured for mappingdata into an entry form having a plurality of editable input fieldscorresponding to a plurality of locale codes. A second component isconfigured for displaying the entry form on a viewing screen of saidentry form as at least one visible editable input field displaying datacorresponding to a user's preferred locale code or a best matchinglocale code. A third component is configured to allow access by a userto the plurality of locale codes which are not displayed in the visibleeditable input field, such as by a localization button accessing apop-in screen. Data accessed from or entered into one or more of theplurality of editable input fields is asynchronously transferred betweena computing host and at least one client computing device on which thecomputer program product is installed.

In yet another aspect, a method is provided in a computing systemenvironment for localization of an entry form displayed on aninteractive web page hosted by the computing system environment. Themethod includes providing data in a database on a computing host andproviding at least one client computing device for displaying entry formhaving a plurality of editable input fields corresponding to a pluralityof locale codes. Data is displayed in at least one visible editableinput field according to a user's preferred locale code or a bestmatching locale code, whereas the remainder of the plurality of editableinput fields remain hidden until accessed by the user. Typically, datatransfer between the computing host and the plurality of editable inputfields is performed asynchronously to minimize the need to access hostresources and to reduce bandwidth consumption.

Instill yet another aspect, a computing system environment for providingaccess to data in a multi-national setting is provided, to perform amethod for localization of an entry form displayed on an interactive webpage hosted by said computing system environment. The method performedby the computing system environment includes providing data in adatabase on a computing host, those data including a plurality of localecodes. At least one remote one remote client computing device accessesthe computing host and displays an entry form having a plurality ofeditable input fields corresponding to the plurality of locale codes.

The data are displayed in at least one visible editable input fieldaccording to a user's preferred locale code or a best matching localecode, and the remainder of the plurality of editable input fields arehidden until accessed by the user. As set forth above, data transferbetween the computing host and the plurality of editable input fields isperformed asynchronously, without requiring updating of any additionalinformation on the web page. In an illustrated embodiment, the entryform is configured to display data in a selected language according tothe user's preferred locale code or a best matching locale code.

These and other embodiments, aspects, advantages, and features of thepresent invention will be set forth in the description which follows,and in part will become apparent to those of ordinary skill in the artby reference to the following description of the invention and referencedrawing or by practice of the invention. The aspect, advantages, andfeatures of the invention are realized and attained by means of theinstrumentalities, procedures, and combinations particularly pointed outin the appended claims.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

The accompanying drawings incorporated in and forming a part of thespecification, illustrate several aspects of the present invention, andtogether with the description serve to explain the principles of theinvention. In the drawings:

FIG. 1 shows a representative browser-based entry form according to thepresent invention;

FIG. 2 shows the browser-based entry form of FIG. 1, after translationinto a preferred locale language (French);

FIG. 3 shows the browser-based entry form of FIG. 1, with a pop-indisplaying all supported locals;

FIG. 4 schematically shows a computing system environment for providingthe described browser-based entry form; and

FIG. 5 is a flow chart for entering data into a representativebrowser-based entry form in accordance with the present invention.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE ILLUSTRATED EMBODIMENTS

In the following detailed description of the illustrated embodiments,reference is made to the accompanying drawings that form a part hereof,and in which is shown by way of illustration, specific embodiments inwhich the invention may be practiced. These embodiments are described insufficient detail to enable those skilled in the art to practice theinvention and like numeral represent like details in the variousfigures. Also, it is to be understood that other embodiments may beutilized and that process, mechanical, electrical, arrangement, softwareand/or other changes may be made without departing from the scope of thepresent invention. In accordance with the present invention, methods andapparatus for localized label user interface control are hereinafterdescribed.

In a representative embodiment (see FIG. 1), the values of one locale(in the illustrated embodiment, English-U.S.) are displayed on a browserbased entry form 100 by default. The depicted embodiment shows an entryform 100 for objects such as Roles, with User Interface Controls forRole Name, Role Description, and the like being provided (“SecurityOfficer” as illustrated). However, it will be appreciated that it iscontemplated to use the entry form 100 for creating or editing a varietyof objects, including without limitation Separation of Duty (SoD)Constraints and the like.

The entry form 100 as depicted includes several visible editable inputfields 102 a, 102 b, 102 c. Other locals (not visible in this Figure)contained in the entry form 100 remain hidden until accessed by a user,and may be displayed when desired via a pop-in which may be accessed bya suitable localization icon 104 a, 104 b. The entry form 100 providesmultiple editable input fields corresponding to multiple local codes.The entry form 100 provides at least one visible input field 102 fordisplay, with the remaining input fields remaining hidden. Such fieldsmay be created by methods known in the art, such by incorporating theminto the browser HTML Markup. Data is mapped to at least one editableinput field 102 according to the available local codes.

Still other embodiments contemplate displaying the entry form 100according to a user's preferred locale rather than the applicationdefault locale. In this manner, the visible input field 102 values aredisplayed according to the user's first choice, rather than requiringthe user to reconfigure from the application default locale prior touse. Accordingly, the entry form 100 display remains in one languageeven if the application default locale is different than the user'slocale. In addition, having the user's preferred locale in an editablevisible input field 102 further reduces click-through when it is onlythat locale that needs editing. As a non-limiting example, if atranslator is tasked with providing values for French, she would onlyneed to access the page in her preferred locale and would not need toview the fields for other locales.

It is contemplated also to display the visible input field 102corresponding to the user's preferred locale, but also to provide a“best match” option in the event the user's preferred locale is notavailable. It is known in this art to supply information for entry intoan entry form 100 in the context of a full localization string whichsupplies the required commands to ascertain the language and othercultural particularities determining how the information is to bedisplayed. For example, the value that is saved by Novell's IDM VirtualData Abstraction Layer is “locale code-value” delimited with |, such as“en˜SecurityOfficer|nl˜Beveiligingsfunctionaris|de˜Sicherheitsbeauftragte”—where en,nl, and de are locale codes for English, Dutch, and German.

As a non-limiting example, the user may desire “French/Belgium” or“fr/be” as the preferred locale for display. If that locale issupported, the information will display accordingly as described above.If, on the other hand, “fr/be” is not a supported locale, but “fr” issupported and has a locale value, the visible input field 102 willdisplay the value using the “fr” code as the closest or best matchavailable. This is depicted in FIG. 2, showing an entry form 200 inFrench as the default locale, selected by the user.

Such data may be accessed by the user for viewing, for editing, forinputting data into unused input fields 102, 202 corresponding topreviously unused locale codes, and the like. It will be appreciatedthat displaying the values of one locale on the browser based entry form100, 200 by default keeps the entry form 100, 200 tidy and allows theentry form to be smaller, with less input fields. Accordingly, the userinterface is presented in a more user-friendly manner.

In addition, displaying the other locales in hidden but easilyaccessible input fields (described in greater detail below), rather thanon an entirely different web page, reduces the number of browser pagerefreshes and click-throughs and eliminates the need for users to accessdifferent web pages and return to the original page with the entry formduring the localization process, further increasing theuser-friendliness. Further, having one locale in an editable visibleinput field 102, 202 reduces click-through when it is only that localethat needs editing. At the same time, accessing the hidden input fields,such as via a pop-in (see below) will show all the supported applicationlocales, making localization for multiple locales simple to accomplishand further improving the user-friendliness of the entry form 100, 200.

An illustrative example is presented in FIG. 3, showing an applicationentry form 300 having visible editable input fields 302 a, 302 b and alocalization icon 304 a. In the illustrated embodiment, a localizationicon (not shown) has been clicked by the user to display previouslyhidden editable input fields 306 a-1, each editable input field 306 a-1corresponding to a particular locale which may or may not be supportedby the application. In the depicted embodiment, Dutch, English, German,Italian, and Spanish are supported (306 c, 306 d, 306 f, 306 g, 306 k,306 l). The hidden editable input fields 306 a-1 are displayed in apop-in 308. As an additional feature, the language identifiers showingthe languages currently supported (noted in FIG. 3 as reference numeral307 a-1) will also be in the user's preferred locale language. In thedisplayed example, the language identifiers 30 a-1 are in English,because English is the user's preferred locale language in the depictedembodiment. Similarly, if the user's preferred locale language is Dutch,the language identifiers 307 a-1 will display in Dutch in pop-in 308.

Typically, data displayed in the pop-in 308 will be transferredasynchronously. Such asynchronous data transfer protocols are known inthis art field, such as for example an asynchronous JavaScript and XML(AJAX) transfer protocol or AJAX “call.” It will be appreciated thatthis method of asynchronous transfer requires less interaction with aserver during the localization process, increasing the speed anduser-friendliness of the localization process. In addition, displayingthe hidden input fields 306 a-1 using asynchronous data transfer allowsthe use of fewer network resources, i.e., reducing bandwidthconsumption, thereby decreasing the costs associated with maintainingmore network resources. Further, displaying the data as a pop-in 308results in more rapid access to the information on the entry form 300and pop-in 308, further increasing the speed and user-friendliness ofthe localization process.

Even more, a user is able to enter additional information into editableinput fields 306. For example, using FIG. 3 as the illustrative example,the user may be tasked with entering a translation of the particularRole Description term shown, that is, Security Officer, into additionallanguages. The user need only input the translation into the editableentry field 306 corresponding to the language or languages into whichthe term is to be translated, and click a button 310 a, 310 b, toterminate the inputting session by either approving (“okay” button 310a) or canceling (“cancel” button 310 b) the change, as desired. Thisinformation may then be transferred to a server (not shown in the Figurefor convenience) to add to the database.

It will thus be appreciated that the method discussed above is readilyadaptable to computing system environments, computing systems, andcomputer readable media for executing such instructions. With referenceto FIG. 4, a representative computing environment 400 for localizedlabel user interface control includes a computing device 402 arranged asan individual or networked physical or virtual machine for sendersand/or recipients of item(s), including a host 404 and clients arrangedwith a variety of other networks and computing devices. In a traditionalsense, an exemplary host 404 typifies a server, such as a grid or bladeserver. Brand examples include, but are not limited to, a Windows brandServer, a SUSE Linux Enterprise Server, a Red Hat Advanced Server, aSolaris server or an AIX server. A computing device 402 may also includea server 406, such as a grid or blade server.

Alternatively, a computing device 402 includes a general or specialpurpose computing device in the form of a conventional fixed or mobile(e.g., laptop) computer 406 having an attendant monitor 408 and userinterface, such as a keyboard 410 or a mouse 412. The computerinternally includes a processing unit for a resident operating system,such as DOS, WINDOWS, MACINTOSH, LEOPARD, VISTA, UNIX, and LINUX, toname a few, a memory, and a bus that couples various internal andexternal units, e.g., “Other” 414, to one another. Representative“other” items 414 include without limitation PDA's, cameras, scanners,printers, microphones, joy sticks, game pads, satellite dishes,hand-held devices, consumer electronics, minicomputers, computerclusters, main frame computers, a message queue, a peer computingdevice, a broadcast antenna, a web server, an AJAX client, agrid-computing node, a virtual machine, a web service endpoint, acellular phone, or the like. The other items may also be stand alonecomputing devices in the environment 400 or the computing device 402itself.

Storage devices are contemplated and may be remote or local. While theline is not well defined, local storage generally has a relatively quickaccess time and is used to store frequently accessed data, while remotestorage has a much longer access time and is used to store data that isaccessed less frequently. The capacity of remote storage is alsotypically an order of magnitude larger than the capacity of localestorage. Regardless, storage is representatively provided for aspects ofthe invention contemplative of computer executable instructions, e.g.,software, as part of computer program products on readable media, e.g.,disk for insertion in a drive of computer 406.

It will therefore be appreciated that the system 400 shown in FIG. 4 isconfigured to perform the tasks required of the present computersystem/computing system environment as set forth above, and thatcomputer software for performing those tasks is contemplated. Inparticular, using the entry form 300 shown in FIG. 3 as a representativeexample, computer executable instructions are contemplated including afirst component for mapping data into the entry form 300, a secondcomponent for displaying entry form 300 on a monitor 408 as at least onevisible editable input field 302, and a third component for accessinghidden input fields 306, such as via a localization icon 304 foraccessing pop-in 308 (see FIG. 3).

Computer executable instructions may be made available for installationas a download or may reside in hardware, firmware or combinations in thedevice 402. When described in the context of computer program products,it is denoted that items thereof, such as modules, routines, programs,objects, components, data structures, etc., perform particular tasks orimplement particular abstract data types within various structures ofthe computing system which cause a certain function or group offunctions. In form, the computer product can be a download of executableinstructions resident with a downstream computing device, or readablemedia, received from an upstream computing device or readable media, adownload of executable instructions resident on an upstream computingdevice, or readable media, awaiting transfer to a downstream computingdevice or readable media, or any available media, such as RAM, ROM,EEPROM, CD-ROM, DVD, or other optical disk storage devices, magneticdisk storage devices, floppy disks, or any other physical medium whichcan be used to store the items thereof and which can be assessed in theenvironment.

In network, the host 404 and computing device 402 communicate with oneanother via wired, wireless or combined connections 418 that are eitherdirect 418 a or indirect 418 b. If direct, they typify connectionswithin physical or network proximity (e.g., intranet). If indirect, theytypify connections such as those found with the internet, satellites,radio transmissions, or the like, and are represented schematically aselement 420. In this regard, other contemplated items include servers,routers, peer devices, modems, T# lines, satellites, microwave relays orthe like. The connections may also be local area networks (LAN), metroarea networks (MAN), and/or wide area networks (WAN) that are presentedby way of example and not limitation. The topology is also any of avariety, such as ring star bridged, cascaded, meshed, or other known orhereinafter invented arrangement.

A representative embodiment will now be discussed. As discussed above,FIG. 1 illustrates a representative browser based entry form 100 forlocalized label user interface control. The entry form 100 is typicallydisplayed on a monitor 408 (from FIG. 4) of a computing device 402 andincluded editable input fields 102 as well as the localization buttons104. Localization buttons 104 a, 104 b display a pop-in 308 sub-formwhen clicked, which contains hidden editable input fields 306 (see FIG.3). In the embodiment shown in FIG. 1, the user-preferred locale (andtherefore display language) is English, whereas in FIG. 2 theuser-preferred locale and language is French. This user-preferred localedetermination may be made via an asynchronous transfer protocol such asan AJAX call to host 404, or may be saved in the browser configuration.

With reference to FIG. 5, wherein the overall flow of a user-friendlybrowser-based entry form as described herein is given generically as500, a user accesses the browser-based entry form at step 510. Via anAJAX call 515 to a host, it is determined whether the user-preferredlocale is supported (step 520). If it is not, it is ascertained whethera best match locale is supported (step 525). If a best match locale isnot supported, the entry form is displayed as the application defaultlocale (step 530). If the user-preferred locale or a best match localeare supported, the entry form is displayed accordingly (step 535).

Next, the user may click the localize button or icon (step 540). In theembodiment shown in FIG. 3, a user has clicked the localize button 104 b(from FIG. 1) using a mouse 412, and a pop-in 308 sub-form is displayed.The pop-in sub-form includes an “okay” button 310 a, a “cancel” button310 b, and previously hidden editable input fields 306 a-1 correspondingto a list of locales. Accordingly, FIG. 3 shows the entry form 100 aftera user has clicked the localize button 104 b (from FIG. 1) and isviewing translated information corresponding to the “Security Officer”entry in editable input field 302 a, or is ready to enter additionalvalues. In certain embodiments, translation software or a web-basedtranslator may be used to enter any of the values in the input fields inthe pop-in 308 sub-form, such as via keyboard 410.

Returning to FIG. 5, rendering the control by clicking the localizationbutton 104 b retrieves all supported locales (see FIG. 3), such as by anAJAX call 545 to server 404. If particular editable hidden fields 306a-1 have existing input localized values, a pre-populated field isdisplayed (step 550). On the other hand, if no existing localized valuesare available for individual editable input fields 306 a-1, no valueswill be displayed. This is depicted in FIG. 3. In particularembodiments, hidden editable input field values or locale codes (thefull-localization-string) may be formatted in the same format asutilized by Novell's IDM Virtual Data Abstraction Layer (“localecode-value” delimitedwith).

If the hidden field has a value, the full-localization-string is parsed(such as by a JavaScript object) and calculates which localized valueshould appear in the visible input field 102 b by determining the user'spreferred locale. This could either be a saved preference for the useror the user's browser's locale. Next, the JavaScript object matches thepreferred locale with the best supported locale that has a value. In theexample set forth above, the user's preferred locale is French/Belgium(fr-be), but only fr is supported. Therefore, the application acquiresthe value for fr from host 404 and displays it (FIG. 2). This reducesthe times a user must see a page with mixed languages. If fr were tohave no value, editable input field 102 b would display the applicationdefault locale's values, if available. If the hidden editable inputfield 306 a-1 were to have no value, the visible editable input field102 b would be left empty.

When the user clicks the localize button 102 b, the JavaScript objectissues another AJAX call 545 to retrieve the supported locales, mapseach localized value in the full-localization-string to the appropriatelocale, captures any changes made to the visible input field 102 b andmaps that value to the best supported locale for the user's preferredlocale, then displays the locale with each localized value in aneditable hidden input field 306 a-1 in a pop-in 308. The user can makechanges to localized values in the pop-in 308 then close it using button310 a (steps 555, 560 of FIG. 5). If the user had changed the bestmatching locale's value for a preferred locale, the JavaScript objectupdates the visible input field 102 b. All values are compiled into theinternal format and a full-localization-string is constructed and placedin the appropriate hidden editable input field 306 a-1. As with all UIControls, the value in the appropriate hidden editable input field 306a-1 is what is sent to the server 404 to be saved, first validating forrequired fields (steps 570, 575 of FIG. 5).

Certain advantages of the invention over the prior art should now bereadily apparent. For example, the present disclosure sets forth amethod for providing a browser-based entry form, computing systems andcomputing system environments for providing that form, and particularbrowser-based entry forms in accordance with the method, whichsignificantly reduce the amount of communication with a host needed toprovide desired information. The entry form is tidy, requires minimalaccess to other web pages and/or click-throughs to view or edit desiredinformation, and minimizes the incidence or time which a user must spendviewing pages or forms containing mixed languages. Even more, theinvention allows end user editing of entry forms for localizationpurposes, rather than requiring that the browser be reconfigured and/orthe individual(s) responsible maintenance at the host/server level makesuch edits. These features contribute to providing a user interface foran entry form that is significantly more user-friendly than prior artmethods for providing such forms, and which consumes significantly fewerresources (bandwidth) in providing the desired information.

Finally, one of ordinary skill in the art will recognize that additionalembodiments are also possible without departing form the teachings ofthe present invention. This detailed description, and particularly thespecific details of the exemplary embodiments disclosed herein, is givenprimarily for clarity of understanding, and no unnecessary limitationsare to be implied, for modifications will become obvious to thoseskilled in the art upon reading this disclosure and may be made withoutdeparting from the spirit or scope of the invention. Relatively apparentmodifications, of course, include combining the various features of oneor more figures with the features of one or more of other figures.

1. A method for allowing a user-friendly localization of an entry formon an interactive web page, comprising: providing an entry form having avisible field related to a plurality of editable input fields, theplurality of editable input fields corresponding to a plurality oflocale codes, the visible field being configured to display one of theplurality of editable input fields, wherein a remainder of the pluralityof editable input fields are hidden until accessed; receiving data forat least one of said editable input fields; mapping said received datato the at least one of said editable input fields; and accessing atleast one of the remainder of the plurality of editable input fields;wherein data is transferred asynchronously to and from said plurality ofeditable input fields, without requiring updating any other informationdisplayed on the web page.
 2. The method of claim 1, wherein theplurality of editable input fields may be accessed by the user to viewsaid received data, to edit said received data, to input additional datainto one or more editable input fields to which data has not beenmapped, and any combination thereof.
 3. The method of claim 1, whereinthe visible field is pre-populated with one of the plurality of editableinput fields associated with a user's preferred locale code.
 4. Themethod of claim 1, wherein said data is a full localization string. 5.The method of claim 1, including the step of pre-populating the visiblefield with one of the plurality of editable input fields according to abest matching locale code when the user's preferred locale code is notavailable.
 6. A computing system for user-friendly localization of anentry form on an interactive web page, comprising: a computing hostcontaining a database; at least one client computing device fordisplaying a portion of said database on a web page as an entry formhaving a visible field related to a plurality of editable input fields,the plurality of editable input fields corresponding to a plurality oflocale codes; wherein said visible field displays data in one of theplurality of editable input fields selected according to a user'spreferred locale code and hides data in the remainder of the pluralityof editable input fields until accessed; and accessing at least one ofthe remainder of the plurality of editable input fields; further whereindata transferred to and from said plurality of editable input fields istransferred asynchronously between the computing host and the at leastone client computing device, without requiring updating any otherinformation displayed on the web page.
 7. The computing system of claim6, wherein a best matching locale code is selected for display of datawhen the user's preferred locale code is not available.
 8. The computingsystem of claim 6, wherein data mapped to the plurality of editableinput fields is received asynchronously from the computing host by theat least one client computing device.
 9. The computing system of claim6, wherein data input into any one of the plurality of editable inputfields is sent asynchronously from the at least one client computingdevice to the computing host.
 10. A computer program product stored on acomputer-readable storage medium having embodied computer-executableinstructions for installation with a computing device of a user to viewinformation on an interactive web page, the computing device having aviewing screen, comprising: a first component configured for mappingdata into an entry form having a visible field related to a plurality ofeditable input fields corresponding to a plurality of locale codes, saiddata being transferred asynchronously to and from said plurality ofeditable input fields; and a second component configured for displayingsaid entry form on the viewing screen of said computing device as atleast the visible field displaying data corresponding to a user'spreferred locale code or a best matching locale code, wherein aremainder of the local codes remain hidden in the viewing screen untilaccessed.
 11. The computer program product of claim 10, wherein theremainder of the plurality of locale codes which are not displayed inthe visible field are mapped to hidden editable input fields accessiblevia a third component.
 12. The computer program product of claim 10,wherein data accessed from or entered into one or more of the pluralityof editable input fields is asynchronously transferred between acomputing host and at least one client computing device on which thecomputer program product is installed.
 13. The computer program productof claim 10, wherein the second component is configured to select theuser's preferred locale code or a best matching alternative locale codefor displaying data in the visible field.
 14. In a computing systemenvironment, a method for localization of an entry form displayed on aninteractive web page hosted by said computing system environment,comprising: providing data in a database on a computing host; providingat least one client computing device for displaying an entry form havinga visible field related to a plurality of editable input fieldscorresponding to a plurality of-locale codes; making visible one of theplurality of editable input fields in the visible field and displayingsaid data therein according to a user's preferred locale code or a bestmatching locale code; and maintaining the remainder of the plurality ofeditable input fields hidden until accessed by the user; wherein datatransfer between the computing host and the plurality of editable inputfields is performed asynchronously.
 15. A method comprising: providingdata in a database on a computing host, said data including a pluralityof locale codes; providing at least one remote client computing devicefor displaying an entry form having a visible field configured todisplay one of a plurality of editable input fields corresponding to theplurality of locale codes according to a user's preferred locale code ora best matching locale code; and maintaining the remainder of theplurality of editable input fields hidden until accessed by the user;wherein data transfer between the computing host and the plurality ofeditable input fields is performed asynchronously, without requiringupdating of any additional information on the web page.
 16. The methodof claim 15, wherein the remainder of the plurality of editable inputfields are made visible to the user when the at least one of theremainder of the plurality of editable input fields is accessed.
 17. Themethod of claim 15, wherein the entry form is configured to display datain a selected language according to the user's preferred locale code ora best matching locale code.
 18. The method of claim 15, wherein datatransfer between the computing host and the plurality of editable inputfields is performed by asynchronous content loading.
 19. The method ofclaim 18, wherein data transfer between the computing host and theplurality of editable input fields is performed by an asynchronousJavaScript and XML (AJAX) protocol.